The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

HEALTH CARE Herbal Magic centres launches Courage to Change campaign For the month of November, Herbal Magic Weight Loss and Nutrition Centres -- with locations in both Acton and Georgetown-- will be urging communities across the country to support their local women's shelters with the launch of its Courage to Change Campaign. The Courage to Change Campaign was born out of an idea to help abused women and honour their courage to change their lives. Throughout November Herbal Magic centres across Canada will collect funds from the community as well as 'nurture items' such as paper towels, tissues and toilet paper-- items identified by local shelters as expensive and fundamentally important. Each centre has been matched with the closest women's shelter in its area and all funds and products will be donated directly. The local shelter in north Halton is Halton Women's Place. "Change takes support and courage," said Barb Botten, vice-president of Marketing at Herbal Magic Corporate Office. "We knew 85 per cent of spousal assault victims in Canada were women. But, when we put out an internal memo to our employees and franchisees about our intention to do this campaign, we were overwhelmed by the staggering number of women within our organization who said they too have at one time been victims. This made our drive that much more meaningful." Fifty-six per cent of women entering shelters are admitted with children of which over two thirds are under the age of 10 years. From April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004, there were 95,326 admissions to 543 shelters for abused women across Canada. Herbal Magic is Canada's largest weight loss company with over 340 centres located from coast to coast. The Acton centre is located at 372 Queen St. (Sobeys Plaza) and the Georgetown centre is at 130 Guelph St. For more information on Herbal Magic's Courage to Change Campaign, visit www.herbalmagic.ca. Knitting for a Cure Georgetown Yarn and Crafts, once again, hosted a successful Knit for the Cure event this past weekend. Over the two-day event the 28 participants, including from left, Joan McLeish of Terra Cotta, store owner Diane Crawford, and `survivor' Lillian Schuch of Waterdown, raised $11,500 through pledges, sponsors and a silent auction. The ladies also knit and crocheted squares to be made in to three blankets that will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, who in turn will auction them off. Knit for the Cure will continue to accept donations at the store on Guelph St. until November 15. All money donated is the Canadian Photo by Shawn McAlpine Breast Cancer Foundation. Harvestfest to aid local projects It's time for the Kiwanis Club of Georgetown's annual Harvestfest on Friday, Nov. 10. Every year, Kiwanis members help local groups raise funds for their projects, particularly projects that involve children. All of the money goes back into Halton Hills. Harvestfest will be held at Holy Cross Church Hall. Tickets are $50 per person, which includes a wine tasting event to start off the evening, a hip of beef buffet buffet, plus a silent auction, live auction and dancing. This year the Harvestfest proceeds will be shared with Hope Place Centres. Hope Place consists of three programs-- one centre for recovery from addictions for women (located in Halton Hills on Hwy 25), one centre for recovery from addictions for men (located in Halton Hills on Trafalgar Rd.), and a program called Babies Best Beginnings, which assists young mothers and babies run out of Burlington, but there are many local clients using this service. Hope Place plans to move the Babies Best Beginnings to Halton Hills in future, if they can raise enough money to do so. Besides Hope Place Centres, The Kiwanis Club continues to raise funds for the emergency room renovation at the Georgetown Hospital. The Kiwanis club pledged $30,000 for this project over three years. Thanks to Kiwanis, the hospital's ER area recently received new seating, new wall coverings, and new tile flooring. The children's play area will also be updated as part of this project. Harvestfest tickets are selling fast, so call 905-877-4411 ext. 253 to book yours. Trillium grant for Summit House There was a celebration at the Glen Williams Park gazebo recently as (from left) Regional Wards 1/2 Regional Councillor Clark Somerville, Mayor Rick Bonnette, Maura Gavin, North Halton co-ordinator of Summit Housing and Outreach Programs, Ward 2 Councillor Joan Robson, and Andrew Ward, grant review committee member of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, gathered to officially present a new minivan to Summit Housing and Outreach Programs North Halton for the benefit of their service recipients. The van was purchased with a $38,500 grant from Ontario Trillium Photo by Ted Brown Foundation.